Monday, January 27, 2014

One of the most storied events in Chicagoland history took
place 47 years ago this week. From early morning on January 26, 1967 through
about 10am the following day, 23 inches of snow fell, and a city that had long
prided itself on an ability to push through harsh winters was brought to a
standstill. There have been other record-setting snowstorms in Chicago in the
years since – in 1979, 2011, and whenever I’m trying to fly out of Midway
Airport in January, but when one hears the phrase “Chicago’s Big Snow”, 1967 is
what’s being referred to.

This amazing set of photos comes to us courtesy of Susanne
Peters, and depicts scenes of various retail locations in the near-north suburb
of Skokie, on a bright sunny day in the aftermath of the Big Snow.

First up is the Turnstyle-Jewel Family Center on Skokie Boulevard, where a dump truck is being loaded with snow. Opened in early 1963,
this Turnstyle was the second location opened by Jewel Tea Company after
completing its acquisition of Turnstyle (a Boston-based chain of discount
stores) the previous year. Jewel had opened up a Racine, Wisconsin location in
1962, and another Turnstyle Family Center at the corner Harlem and Foster opened
around the same time as the Skokie store.

In my years of enthusiastic perusal of vintage supermarket
photographs, I had yet to see one where the store’s facade was finished in
bathroom tile. But here it is – The National Food Store at the corner of Niles
Center Road and Skokie Boulevard. Originally opened as a Sure Save Food Mart,
the store, along with 10 other units, came under National Tea Company ownership
in 1961. It retained the Sure Save name for some years afterward, but by 1967
had been rebranded as a National.

This one would be of primary interest to those who grew up
in the area, but it’s a nice shot. I sure would have hated to be the one to
clean those store floors after all that snow and slush was tracked in!

Here’s a neat view of Dempster Street, showing among other
things a combined Firestone Tire dealership/Mobil gas station. To this day, the
“Complete Car Service” signage can be seen on some older Firestone stores. The
Mobil portion sports their “transitional” signage – the 1966 logo (which caused quite a stir in design circles and is still used today) contained within
1950’s-style Mobil sign frames. In the distance is an Aunt Jemima’s Kitchen,
one of a long-gone chain of family restaurants based on the pancake icon. (I’ve been waiting my entire life to use the
phrase “pancake icon”. A dream realized, this is.) There weren’t a lot of Aunt
Jemima’s Kitchens, but they had a fairly widespread geographic distribution, as
can be seen here.

Another shot of the Firestone dealer, with a “1967 License
Plates Installed Free” sign in the window. Illinois issued new plates
every year until 1979, the end of a tradition I’d enjoyed every year as a kid –
the anticipatory “what color will the plates be this year?” game. Yes, friends,
I lived an exciting life in those days.

And what snow-trudging shopping trip would be complete
without a trip to the Golden Arches? Unfazed by the snow, “Speedee”, McDonald’s
early-years mascot, beckons all to partake of the chain’s legendary 15-cent
hamburgers. (In your car, of course. Indoor seating was still a couple of years
away.) 1967, in fact, was the last year of the 15 cent hamburger price, as
after much gnashing of teeth, McDonald’s raised it to 18 cents apiece that year.
Many of these signs were then modified to replace the “15c” panel with one saying
“Coast to Coast”. By the early 70’s, most McDonald’s stores of this type were
torn down and replaced altogether with indoor-seating restaurants and modern
signs. A Wanzer’s truck sits in front of the McDonald’s. Wanzer (“Wanzer on
milk is like sterling on silver”), a large Chicago-area dairy, was purchased two
years later, in 1969, by The Southland Corporation, the Dallas-based parent of
the 7-Eleven stores. Immediately it became the house milk brand for “The Sev”
in the Chicago area, and my folks bought a good many gallons of milk there.

Well, once again I’d like to thank Susanne for letting me
show you these great pictures. And wherever you live, I hope it’s “just a
dusting” this week!

My wife is a native of Chicago. She was born in December of 1966. Her family lived in Rogers Park during the January snow; family legend tells that her father had to pull a sled to the nearest supermarket to purchase her formula.

Later in 1967, WCFL produced this long jingle, and of course everyone knew exactly what they meant by "the tie-up when that awful snowfall fell" being "as much a part of Chicago as WCFL," along with everything else mentioned in the jingle.

Greetings again, from the "Chicago of the North" (Winnipeg). Thanks, Dave, for those great snowstorm aftermath pictures. I've visited Chicago exactly once (two summers ago), but it was a great and memorable experience...partly because it was in July, not January. Thanks also to Jim for the WCFL jingle. Very cool.

Growing up on Highcrest Drive in Wilmette, our family (and our neighbors) knew this area well. Very cool photos, and yes, what a storm. The Turnstyle, the Jewel, there was a bowling alley near there, and an Arby's, too! Thanks much to Susanne for the photos, brings back a LOT of great memories!

The Turn-Style facade seen in the first photo looks a lot like the 90's-era facade used by the Giant supermarkets in Pennsylvania (not to be confused with Pittsburgh chain Giant Eagle, or the Giant chain in the Baltimore/DC area which once had stores in Pennsylvania known as Super G). Here's a former Giant-owned Martin's store (now a Big Lots) in Maryland for comparison:http://www.flickr.com/photos/62355920@N00/8284999527/

About this site

Pleasant Family Shopping is dedicated to preserving the history of retail chain stores of the past - with an emphasis on supermarkets and discount stores. Your comments and anecdotes or photo submissions are welcome. Many of the store photos presented here are of unidentified locations. Any help in identifying them would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for stopping in!